Compensating gearing for motor-vehicles.



No. 860,952. PATENTED JULY 23, 1907.

' H. WHITE.

UOMPENSATING GEARING FOR MOTOR VEHICLES.

APPLIG'ATION FILED APR.30, 1904.

v 5 sHEETs-SHEET 1.

PATBNTED JULY 23, 1907.

APPLIUATION TILED APILBO, 1904.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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w H. WHITE UOMPENSATING GEARING FOR MOTOR VEH IGLBS.

v PATENTED JULY 23. 1907.

. H. WHITE.

GOMPENSATING GEARING FOR MOTOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED 11 5 SHEETSSHE ET 4 PATENTED JULY 28, 1907:

H. WHITE. v GOMPENSATING GBARING FOR MOTOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 30, 190% 5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

wihwmw anon n13 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY WHITE, OF MARION, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE WHITE ENGINEERING COMPANY. OF

MARION, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

COMPENSATING GEARING FOR MOTOR-VEHICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 23, 1907.

Application filed April 30,1904. Serial No. 205,737.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY WHITE, a citizen of the Unitcd States, residing at Marion, in the county of Marion and State of Ohio, have invented certain new 5 and useful Improvements in Compensating Gearing for Motor-Vehicles, of which tlie following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

' This invention relates to compensating gearing for motor vehicles, and has for its object to provide a construction whereby a vehicle of the four wheel type, the front wheels being steering wheels, may have "its wheels, both rear and front, all so connected to a suitable inotor that all of the wheels act as driving wheels, the transmission gearing compensating for the difference in speed of revolution of the different wheels arising from inequalitiesof the roadway or changes in the direction of travel of the vehicle, and being a balanced gearing of a character such as to divide the power equally between the four wheels. To these ends my invention consists in certain novel features which I will now proceed to describe, and will then particularly point out in the-claims. k

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a/ plan view of a motor vehicle embodying my invention, only so much thereof being shown as is necessary to an understanding of the same; Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view on an enlarged scale, taken on the line a; x of Fig. 1, and looking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 3 is a sideelevation of the main driving wheel, to which the motive power is applied; Fig. 4 is a view of one of the bevel gears driven from the wheel shown in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view of the front axle on an enlarged scale, taken on the line y y of Fig. 1, and looking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 6 is a view of the sprocket-wheel shown in Fig. 5; and Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view through one of the front wheels, being, in fact, an extension to the left of Fig. 5.

In the said drawings, 1 indicates the frame of a motor vehicle, supported on four ground wheels, the two rear wheels being indicated respectively by the refercnce numerals 2 and 3, and the front wheels by the reference numerals 4 and 5.

In the particular embodiment of my invention chosenfor. purposes of illustration, the rear wheels 2 and 3 are shown as mounted loosely upon the extremities of a non-rotating axle 6. The frame 1 supports a suitable motor of any approved description, from which power is derived to impart motion to a main gear wheel 7, which, in the present instance, is supported in the manner hereinafter set forth bymeans of a countershaft 8, mounted in suitable bearings on the frame 1. The gear 7 has mounted thereon a plurality of bevel pinions 9, three being shown in the present instance, said pinions being arranged with their axes or rotation radial with respect to the gear 7, said pinions being free to rotate on their said axes, and being carried around by the gear 7 as it rotates. On opposite sides of the gear 7 there are located bevel gears 6O 10 and 11, which mesh with the pinions 9 on opposite sides thereof. The bevel gear 10 has a sleeve-like hub 12 loosely mounted on the shaft 8, the portion of said sleeve-like hub which projects in one direction from the body of the bevel gear forming a part of the 'bear- I ing for the hub 13 of the main gear 7. The other portion of the sleeye-like hub 12, which extends in the opposite direction from' the body of the bevel gear 10, has s cured thereon a sprocket-wheel 14, from which the front .VllCQlS are driven. The bevel gear 11 has mounted thereon a plurality of bevel pinions 15,. three being shown in'the present instance, said pinions having their axes of rotation arranged radial with respect to the bevel gear ll, said bevel pinions being free to rotate on their own axes, and being carried around by the bevel gear 11 asit rotates. On opposite sides of the bevel gear 11 are located two bevel gears 16 and 17, which mesh with the pinions 15 on opposite sides thereof. These bevel gears 16 and 17 respectively drive the two rear wheels 2 and 3. To this end the hub 18 0f the bevel gear 16 is keyed or otherwise secured to the shaft 8, said shaft having secured thereon at one end a sprocket-wheel 19, which, by means of a sprocket chain 20, drives a sprocketwheel 21, carried by the wheel 2. 8-5

It will be noted that the hub 18 forms the remaining part of the bearing for the hub 13 of the main gear 7, and also apart of the bearing'of the hub 22 of the bevel gear 1l l The bevel gear 17 has a sleevelike hub 23, loosely mounted on the countershaft 8, its extension in one direction completing the bearing for the hub 22 of the bevel gear 11, while its extension inthe other direction has secured thereon a sprocketwheel 24, which, by means of a sprocket chain 25, drives a sprocket-Wheel 26 with which the wheel 3 is 9 providedx The sprocket wheel 14 drives a sprocket chain 27, which extends to the front axle of the vehicle for the purpose of driving the front wheels 4 and 5.

28 indicates a sprocket-wheel around which the sprocket cha n 27 passes, said sprocket-wheel 28 being provided with a plurality of bevel pinions 29, three bcsaid axes,' and are carried around by the sprocketwheel 28 as it revolves. I

30 and 31 indicate bevel gears located on opposite sides of the sprocket wh el 28. and mesl i g with the bevel pinions 29 thereof on opposite sides of said pinions. The front axle is divided, the bevel gear 30 being secured to the member 32 thereof which drives the wheel 4, while the bevel gear 31 is secured to the member 33 of the front axle which drivesthe wheel 5. The bevel gears 30 and 31 are respectively provided with hubsf 34and 35, which are extended towards each other so as to form a bearing for the hub 36 of the sprocket-wheel 28. The axle members 32 and 33 revolve respectively in fixed sleeves 37 and 38, connected at their inner ends by the arch or yoke 39, which spans the Compensating gearing 0f the front axle. The outer ends of the sleeves 37 and 38-are connected by means of a truss rod 40, supported by struts 41 from the inner ends of said sleeves. It will thus be seen that said sleeves form, in effect, a bearing'ior the rotating divided axle 32 and 33, it being understood that this hearing is suitably secured to the main frame' 1'. Said sleeves may be also considered'as constituting a nonrotating axle, since the journals on which the front wheels turn are pivotedto the outer ends of the respective sleeves, as will hereinafter appear.

'The co nnectionbetween the front wheels'and the parts bywhich they are supported and rotated is the, sameon each side of the machine, and I will therefore describe iirdetail only the connections of the wheel 4, which is shown in detail-in Fig. 7, it being understood that the connections of the wheel 5 are similar, but reversely arranged. i The sleeve 37 terminates at its outer end in ayoke 42, to'which is pivoted/by means of central. vertical pivots 43, a hollow cylindrical journal44, which may be turned upon the vertical pivots 43, to effect the steering of the vehicle. This may be effected in any suitable way, as, for instance, by an arm 45, connected bya link 46 with a rack bar 47, driven by a pinion 48,

inward "ayo'ke 54., connected by a pivot with a:

knuckle piece 56. The shaft member 32terminates in a:yoke.-'57', which-is, also .pivotally connected to the knuckle piece 56b y means of pivots58, located at right angles to the pivots 55.

It will be noted that thepivots 58,155 and43 are all i the same vertical plane-,whiclris the central vertical planeof the wheel 4. .1 will be seen that, by reason of this construction, the steering wheels 4and 5,n1ay be turned into. any; desired position around the vertical axiszformed 'bythe pivots 43, for the purpose of, steering the vel1icle, without in any affecting rotary movement. imparted by the rotating front a xle while at the; same, timethe tins uponsaid axlelandhpon the connecting parts are reduced to a minimum. Considering. .tlie structure as av whole will be'seenj 11.1nes hing therewith, serve to compensate and equalize the motion of the front and rear wheels, since the front wheels are driven from the bevel gear 10, while the rear wheels are driven from the bevel gear 11. Conipensation and equalization'between the rear wheels themselves is effected by the bevel gear ]1,- with its pinions 15, and the bevel gears l6-and-]7, which mesh with said pinions, since the wheel 2 is driven from the bevel gear 16, while the wheel 3 is driven from the bevel gear 17. Similarly, compensation and equalization 'between the front'wheels 4 and '5 are effected by the sprocket-wheeler gear 28, with its pinions 29, and the bevel gears 30 and 31 which mesh therewith, since the wheel 4 is' driven from'the bevel gear 30, whilethe wheel 5 is driven from the bevel gear 31. Thus, while all of the wheels are driven at a similar speed under nor- 1 mal conditions, each wheel is free to vary from that speed under controlling conditions independent of the motive power, while the said motive power is equally distributed to all four of the wheels.

It is obvious that various modifications in the details of construction may be made without departing from the principleof my invention.

I- therefore do not wish tobe understood as limiting myself. strictly to the precise details of construction hereinbefore described and shown in the accompanying drawings. 7

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is v A compensating gear'for driving a vehicle comprising a shaft, a main gear wheel having a hub supported on said shaft, radial pinions supported on said main gear and rotating therewith, a sleeve journaled on said shaft and having one end extending into the hub of said main gear. a bevel gearcarriedby said sleeve'and engaging said pinions on one side of said main gear, asecond bevelgear having a hub supported on said shaft and engaging said pinions on the opposite side of said'main gear, radial pinions jour- 'naled in said second bevel gear and rotatingv there\vith, a

bevel gear on one side of said bevel gear, said gear 16 haw ing' ahub extending at one end into'the hub of said main gear and cooperating; with the sleeve of said. first-mentioned bevel gear to form a bearing for saidmain gear and having its other and extending into the hub of the second bevel gear. a second sleeve mounted on saidshaft and having one end extending into the huh of said secondhevel gear and cooperating with the hub of the gear 16 to form a bearing therefor, and agear 17 secured to said second sleeve and engaging the pinio'ns of said bevel search the outer side of said bevel g'car. substantially as described. In testimony whereof. I afllx my signature in presence of five-witnesses. v

. I HENRY \Vlll'll').

Witnesses: i i

' L. B. McNI-IA'L,

lluiucl-i J.'(!m'.r.oLo. 

